That is just rubbish news. Typical myopic view by the council, yet again....Soon there will be no business premises left, everything is turned into housing to make a select few lots of profits. Offices, pubs, you name it. I just feel sorry for the current incumbents and horse owners who are cast aside in order to make someone money. Sets a precedent for other farmer/developers to cash in and fill every square foot of Cookham in housing. Sad day...

I notice Richard Kellaway voted in favour of the development. I think it is time we stopped voting for the old school Conservatives and voted Green at the next local election. May be then we could stop the 'old boys club' destroying our village for personal profit!!

Can we see a list of who voted for what somewhere? A real old boys network as you say, and especially as the proposer was a prominent member of the original Cookham Plan, that is until I guess something changed...

I just just heard from someone who was at the meeting last night that 5 were in favour of which one was Richard Kellaway and 5 abstained and there were no votes against. My friend said the planning committee had clearly made up their mind before the meeting and weren't interested in any objections. It was granted as the existing farm was not making a profit which we all know was instigated by the lowering of rents on the business units etc. A sad day for Cookham as I feel this is only the beginning of increasing developments, which is why we need a council that has the majority of its residents at heart not the select few.

I notice Richard Kellaway voted in favour of the development. I think it is time we stopped voting for the old school Conservatives and voted Green at the next local election. May be then we could stop the 'old boys club' destroying our village for personal profit!!

I've been banging on that particular drum for several years now with regard to this Council.Nothing - and I mean nothing - will benefit (in real terms) the populace of this Borough as long as there exists a total, and again I mean TOTAL and absolute majority of Tories on the Council.

You can scream all you like till you are blue (pardon the pun) in the face, but with the likes ofKellaway and his cronies in charge, nothing will be achieved which will in turn enhance the lives ofresidents in the Cookhams. As long as he and his buddies cosy up to farmers and developersI'm afraid that the inevitable will happen and this beautiful area will ultimately be swallowed up in crass urbanisation, all with their blessing and approval.

I note that no mention was made of considering "Affordable Housing" on the Simmonds site during the Councils' deliberations. Funny that ...!Taboo words those, when associated with anything to do with Cookham Dean.But, ironically, lauded when it comes to other pockets of land/ segments of open space/ critical parts of the Borough.

It is all very sad and deeply worrying.... if not infuriating. I wont be voting any of these people in again, they have lost my vote. I gather the secretary of state is being asked to see if they wish to review the application .... wouldn't it be nice to be able to have a say in that .... but I assume we can't !!

If you speak against something why on earth would you then abstain from voting? I don't just don't understand any of this at all. Short term gain for a few people will be the ruination of the Cookhams roll on the next election so we can vote these people out. Of course, we'll need others ready to stand against them, but from the feelings running on this board there may not be a shortage of independent candidates . . .

If councillors speak out against a planning application but then abstain it makes you wonder why? What did someone use as a lever? I guess we are unlikely to find out unless the name of someone linked to the applicant just happened to appear on a list of Conservative party donors.

There is probably not much we can do but I suggest when we get closer to the next local parliamentary elections we remind the residents of Cookham how our elected councillors behaved on this occasion and why we need to enforce a change to stop this kind of behaviour! The Tories are too comfortable so don't care how they treat the residents of Cookham.

I would question why they make it so difficult for 'normal residents' to file planning applications.... yet for something that is so major, and a large site that could accommodate 'affordable housing' - why it was soooooo easy to approve at the first planning meeting?.

Yet even if they felt it was approvable, and sacrificed this site to save other parts of Cookham (Pound Field / Whyteladys Lane fields), then they could of included 'affordable' housing here.

The Planning Officer was totally bonkers for determining that Woodlands did not fall within the National Planning Policy Paragraph 89 - meaning - thank you for opening 'Pandoras-box' to the other farmer/developer and his ''barns''.....

Unfortunately the so called shake up within the council has come to late to help the community at Woodlands Farm.The planning Committee do not seem to represent the people who voted them in.It is very sad to see the community of people who run businesses and keep horses up on the Dean having to go out of the area. These are all local people who care about and are part of the village, many of whom will no longer use the shops and pubs and may even have to move elsewhere. All of this just to provide housing for a very few very wealthy people who are not part of our community.